(RNS)—For years, studies have suggested many white evangelical Christians reject the scientific consensus that human actions are driving climate change. A just-published study of clergy in America confirms it.

The National Survey of Religious Leaders reveals 78 percent of white evangelical clergy reject the assertion human actions are the cause of climate change. By contrast, only 27 percent of Black Protestant clergy and 21 percent of liberal or mainline Protestant clergy reject it.

The study of 1,600 U.S. congregational leaders across the religious spectrum was conducted in 2019 and 2020, and some findings have been released over the years, but the entire report was just published.

While white evangelical clergy reject the idea humans are responsible for climate change, they are not always anti-science, the study reveals.

“I think there’s very little reason to think anything’s changed much in the last five years,” said Mark Chaves, the study’s principal investigator and a professor of sociology at Duke University.

Most clergy, including white evangelicals, endorsed a medical approach to treating depression in addition to a spiritual approach. The study found 87 percent of evangelical clergy said they would encourage their congregants to seek help from a mental health professional when suffering from depression. The study showed 85 percent of Black Protestants, 97 percent of mainline Protestants and 99 percent of Catholics agreed.

“Clergy overwhelmingly adopt either a wholly medical or a combined medical and religious view of depression,” the study concluded.

Likewise, 69 percent of all clergy, and 64 percent of white evangelicals in particular, endorse palliative care at the end of life, agreeing in some circumstances, patients should be allowed to die by withholding possible treatments, suggesting an underlying support for a medical science approach.

The contrast between the two views of science—the rejection of climate science but the acceptance of medical science—is striking, and researchers suggest one motivating factor: politics.

“Differences among clergy about the more recent issue of climate change suggest a connection to partisan politics more than to theology,” Chaves said.

White evangelicals overwhelmingly vote Republican—Donald Trump won the support of about 80 percent of white evangelical Christian voters in 2016, 2020 and 2024, according to AP VoteCast. And the Republican Party has become opposed to any policy reforms on climate change in recent decades.

When it comes to climate change, white evangelicals may be driven by their politics more than their religion. Republicans, at least prior to the pandemic when the study was fielded, have not been steadfastly opposed to medicine—which may be one reason evangelicals are more likely to accept it.

“It used to be the thinking that religion always came first and people’s religious commitments drove their politics,” Chaves said. “There’s been more recognition lately of how it goes in the opposite direction, and this is kind of a version of that too.”

Robert P. Jones, the president of Public Religion Research Institute, agreed.

“Climate change has been politicized in a way that mental health has not,” Jones said.

“So, it’s not that (evangelicals) don’t believe in climate science and they do believe in the science behind medications and psychological counseling. It’s that rejecting climate change has been established as a necessary tribal partisan belief in a way that rejecting mental health treatment has not.”

The National Survey of Religious Leaders, though fielded before the coronavirus pandemic, offers a detailed picture of the country’s clergy with demographic data on clergy age, sex, congregation size, compensation, health and well-being. It is considered the largest, most nationally representative survey on clergy available.

Additional findings from the survey include:

• In 2019-20, the median primary congregational leader was 59 years old, seven years older than the median clergy age of 52 in a similar 2001 survey. Most U.S. clergy of all faiths (66 percent) found their calling as a second career.
• Women accounted for only 17 percent of congregations’ primary leaders, though up from 11 percent in 2001 when a similar study of clergy was published. Most of those women clergy leaders were concentrated in liberal mainline traditions; 32 percent of those churches are led by women.’
• Among the clergy leading congregations (890 of the 1,600 surveyed), 66 percent were white, 26 percent Black, 5 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian. Catholic priests were the most diverse racially, with 21 percent who were Hispanic.
• The median primary clergy leader was paid $52,000 for working full time. The study showed 7 percent of full-time primary clergy earned $100,000 or more, while 20 percent earned less than $35,000 a year.
• Most congregations no longer provide their leader with housing. Only 21 percent reported that they lived in a manse, parsonage or rectory, a drop from 39 percent in 2001.
• U.S. clergy are pretty happy and physically healthy. Only 5 percent of clergy said their health was poor or fair, compared with 12 percent in the general population, according to a Centers for Disease Control study. Mainline clergy were somewhat less happy and satisfied in comparison with other religious traditions.
• The vast majority of clergy—97 percent—were very or moderately satisfied with their work, and 85 percent felt satisfied with their life almost every day. The survey was conducted before the coronavirus pandemic, and some studies post-pandemic have shown an increase in clergy burnout and stress.

The survey, funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation, had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Lurae “Looie” Biffar, who served Texas Baptists and Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas more than a half-century as a graphic designer, died March 21 in Chico. She was 79. She was born June 30, 1945, to Clyde and Elva Attaway Biffar and grew up in Big Spring. She earned her degree in graphic design from the University of North Texas in 1967. She served four and a half decades as a graphic designer in the public relations and communications office at the Baptist General Convention of Texas. After retiring from the BGCT, she served in a similar role with WMU of Texas. When she began work with Texas Baptists, she used a drawing board, rapidograph pen, utility knife and T-square. By the time she retired, she was proficient in multiple types of graphic-design computer hardware and software. She served with six BGCT executive directors—T.A. Patterson, James Landes, Bill Pinson, Charles Wade, Randel Everett and David Hardage—and worked at three Baptist Building locations. For more than three decades, she coordinated and supervised the set-up of the exhibit hall at Texas Baptists’ annual meeting. Along the way, she received numerous graphic design awards from the Baptist Public Relations Association/Baptist Communicators Association. She was preceded in death by her brother Glenn Biffar and her sister Elaine Shuffler. She is survived by her nephew Aaron Biffar; her niece Andrea Jones and husband J.D.; niece-in-law Laurie Watkins; sister-in-law Patti Biffar; and great-nieces and great-nephews who thought of her as a grandmother. The family will receive guests from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 25 at Hawkins Funeral Home in Bridgeport. Her memorial service will be at 1 p.m. March 26 at Hawkins Funeral Home in Bridgeport, with burial at Chico Cemetery.

Travis Farrar Patterson, Baptist minister and former seminary professor, died Feb. 16 in Aledo. He was 91. Born in Columbus, Ga., to Sarah Carolyn Culbreath and George Travis “Pat” Patterson, he grew up in Memphis, Tenn., the oldest of seven children. He married Helen Edwina Schovajsa of Amherst in 1959 when they were both graduate seminary students. Farrar held degrees from Southeastern Bible College, Baylor University, Dallas Theological Seminary, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Texas Christian University. He was pastor of churches in Weatherford and in Columbus, and he taught at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1969 to 1985. He spent a sabbatical year in 1984 as a visiting scholar at the University of Cambridge in England studying the life and works of John Wesley in preparation for writing and publishing his own book, Do-it-Yourself Bible Study. He also served his community as a town councilman. He is survived by daughter S. Paige Patterson Clarke and her husband James Clarke; daughter H. Shea Patterson Young and her husband Patrick Young; and by four grandsons, Austin, Laurence, Edward and Arthur.

The Baptist World Alliance issued an urgent call for Baptists globally to give, pray and “Stand in the Gap” in solidarity with suffering people at a time when humanitarian aid is being cut.

“Over the last 100 days, there has been a rapid deceleration of government-supported humanitarian assistance around the world,” BWA General Secretary Elijah Brown said in a video posted on the BWA website.

“Now, whether you think those decisions were right or wrong, what is undeniable is the impact on people on the ground as suddenly there are these massive gaps of care in communities just like yours.”

BWA has heard from Baptists in refugee camps along the Myanmar/Thailand border, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in other places where political unrest and violence are creating a humanitarian crisis, he said.

While no Christian group can replace the millions of dollars of aid that have been cut, Baptists “cannot sit on the sidelines” when people are suffering, Brown said.

Stand in the Gap Solidarity Sunday set

So, BWA declared March 30 as Stand in the Gap Solidarity Sunday.

Churches are encouraged to set aside time that day—or another dedicated day of worship—to pray for suffering people around the world and give financially to enable BWA to provide food, water, health care, shelter and other basic needs.

BWA has produced a prayer guide that can be downloaded, duplicated and distributed for individual or congregational use.

The guide offers specific suggestions for intercession such as praying for peace with justice in areas of conflict, restored health care infrastructure, clean water and “strength and resilience for church leaders and humanitarian workers as they mobilize to support the displaced and impoverished.”

BWA also has slides, videos and social media resources that can be downloaded to increase awareness about the Stand in the Gap initiative.

“Together, we must hear the voice of Jesus calling us to stand in solidarity with the suffering,” BWA stated on its website. “The needs are overwhelming and the situations complex, but we must do everything we can to help.”

Human rights and religious freedom in Afghanistan have deteriorated since the Taliban regained control in 2021, and recent executive orders by President Donald Trump could make matters worse, expert panelists testified during a March 19 hearing.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom convened the virtual hearing on “Religious Freedom Conditions in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan.” Commission Chair Stephen Schneck and Vice Chair Meir Soloveichik moderated the hearing.

In his introductory remarks, Schneck observed the Taliban intensified its “crackdown” on religious minorities last year, enacting edicts to severely limit the religious freedom of all people in Afghanistan—including Muslims who hold to less-restrictive interpretations of Sharia.

The edicts “disproportionately impacted Afghan women and girls,” subjecting them to arbitrary arrest, forced disappearance and harassment, he said.

At the same time, Islamic State-Khorasan Province targeted religious minorities, such as the Hazara Shi’a people, he added.

Several panelists noted the negative impact of executive orders cutting foreign aid and “a high level of uncertainty” regarding policies regarding the resettlement of refugees and asylum-seekers.

‘May constitute crimes against humanity’

Richard Bennett, United Nations Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, reported “systemic gender-based oppression” and repressive laws focused on ethnic and religious minorities—and noted “early warning signs” of worsening conditions.

He pointed to the Taliban’s law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which limits freedom of expression and religion and places even greater restriction on the rights of women and girls, as well as cultural and ethnic minorities.

“Expanding restrictions amount to institutionalized persecution, which may constitute crimes against humanity,” he said.

Bennett called for an “all-tools approach” to holding the Taliban accountable for its disregard for religious freedom and international human rights standards, rather than seeking a single “silver bullet” solution.

However, he said, cutting foreign aid “turns hope into despair.” Instead, he urged the United States to support those inside Afghanistan who are “speaking up and standing up for human rights” within an ever-shrinking civic space.

‘Worst situation in the world for women’

The Taliban “doubled down on extremist policies” in recent months, said Rina Amiri, former special envoy for Afghan women, girls and human rights at the U.S. Department of State.

Afghanistan remains “the worst situation in the world for women,” Amiri said. Any international engagement with the Taliban should prioritize human rights—particularly the rights of women and girls, she insisted.

Metra Mehran with Amnesty International similarly denounced the “draconian laws” the Taliban instituted to deprive women of their rights to education, employment, mobility and “to practice their faith freely.”

The Taliban has taken steps to “criminalize the voice of women” by barring them from reciting the Quran in front of other adult women, she noted.

Mehran called on the U.S. Department of State to renew the designation of the Taliban as an Entity of Particular Concern for its “systemic, ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom.”

She also urged the United States not to “hinder lifesaving support for the persecuted” people of Afghanistan.

Fereshta Abbasi, researcher in the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, called for an independent and comprehensive mechanism to hold the Taliban accountable for its ongoing abuse and human rights violations in Afghanistan.

‘Practice their faith in secret or in isolation’

Joseph Azam, board chair of the Afghan-American Foundation, called Afghanistan “one of the most repressive countries in the world.”

Anyone who rejects the Talban’s extreme interpretation of Sharia is “left to live in constant fear” of being targeted by apostasy and blasphemy laws, Azam observed. Religious minorities must “practice their faith in secret or in isolation,” he said.

Azam emphasized the importance not only of continuing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan, but also using non-state entities to “prevent the Taliban from interfering” with its delivery.

Kate Clark, senior analyst and co-director of the Afghanistan Analyst Network, pointed out the Taliban believe they are “ruling through divine grace,” and they inherited a functioning state structure that allows them to enforce their authoritarian rule.

The police have “unchecked power” to enforce the edicts in the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, she noted.

If and when positive change occurs in Afghanistan, it will “come from the inside”—from Afghan civic organizations and individuals who are standing for human rights and religious freedom, she asserted.

Those groups depend on “predictable funding” from outside sources—primarily the U.S. Agency for International Development, where funding was frozen by an executive order, Clark said.

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (BP)—The mayor of a city in southeastern Ukraine enlisted a Christian humanitarian and evangelistic ministry to serve as spiritual first responders to traumatized or injured civilians in the war zone.

Zaporizhzhia is vulnerable to Russian attack, adjacent to cities in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast and a treasured nuclear power plant Russia captured since renewing its assault on Ukraine in February 2022.

As recently as Jan. 8, a Russian air strike killed at least 13 and injured another 113 in the industrial city of 700,000.

Mayor Rehina Vladyslavivna Kharchenko has formally recognized the strength of the church in helping emotionally and physically wounded citizens cope and recover.

On March 1, the mayor signed an official memorandum with Mission Eurasia, authorizing the ministry to provide spiritual and medical care and healing to civilians injured on the front lines of war, at the very locations of the tragedies.

Mission Eurasia President Sergey Rakhuba, who grew up in Zaporizhzhia but now leads the Tennessee-headquartered ministry, called the agreement a groundbreaking partnership demonstrating an unprecedented collaboration between the government and the church.

“When the government leaders of Zaporizhzhia asked us to help address both the medical and spiritual needs of civilians and frontline responders, we recognized immediately our profound duty as Christians,” Rakhuba said.

“This partnership clearly demonstrates that Ukraine deeply values spiritual engagement and sees the church as an essential, trusted partner during this critical time.”

The agreement distinguishes Mission Eurasia with a government seal, allowing its ministers, counselors and medical professionals to respond to communities after they are shelled or attacked.

Under the agreement, Mission Eurasia is deploying six mobile medical clinics staffed by trained Christian medical professionals and spiritual emergency responders through the ministry’s Next Generation Professional Leaders Initiative in partnership with the Christian Medical Association of Ukraine.

‘This is a life-saving ministry’

The fully equipped mobile clinics staffed by Christian medical professionals will provide both urgent care and spiritual care, augmented with a team of trauma counselors and ministry leaders who will offer the hope of Christ alongside medical treatment. Mission Eurasia will distribute Bibles, children’s Bibles and biblical literature.

All services will be offered at no charge, and Mission Eurasia will perform the ministry at no cost to the government, Rakhuba said.

“This is a life-saving ministry,” he said. “Lives are in danger.”

Government officials had seen Mission Eurasia’s work in the center of Zaporizhzhia in the Reimer Center, Rakhuba said, where thousands of Ukrainian refugees sought aid as they left their homes in the early days of the war in 2022. Mission Eurasia has several offices in the center.

“The local government cannot accommodate all (of the people),” Rakhuba said. “So, our mobile clinics, our mobile kitchens, and distribution of food, clothing, helping with housing, was very useful. It gave such a huge impact.”

But without the new memorandum, Mission Eurasia was confined to certain areas, and lacked the authority to enter war zones to treat injured civilians.

“(The government) said, ‘We see how much impact you bring with your spiritual and emotional counseling ministries, so we want your mobile clinics to be in the places where we have … continuous shelling,’” Rakhuba said of the Zaporizhzhia city leaders.

“When there is a hit and there is destruction, there is lots of chaos, of course. The city paramedics are there with firefighters and the rescue mission, but they want our unit to be staffed with volunteer medical workers, but also with pastors and spiritual counselors and trauma counselors to be like the first spiritual responders to those areas.

“And the government wanted us to sign memorandum, official memorandum,” he said. “That means, they give us green light to be there with first responders as spiritual first responders where all the tragedies happen.”

Mission Eurasia hopes to work long-term in the area, treating adults and children as they grapple with the trauma of living in a war zone, Rakhuba said. Through Mission Eurasia’s Restoration Initiative, local ministers leading congregations 5 or 10 miles away from the frontlines of war are learning to respond to the unique spiritual needs war creates.

“Healing takes time,” he said. “There is no deadline to it. It’s indefinite. It’s a spiritual ministry. This is restoring people’s lives.”

Roel Carrion to First Baptist Church in Falfurrias as bivocational pastor.

Karl Fickling to First Baptist Church in Granbury as intentional interim pastor.

Texans on Mission is deploying disaster relief teams to Fredericksburg and Missouri. A shower/laundry unit is deploying to Fredericksburg to serve first responders working to contain the Crabapple fire. In Missouri, Texans on Mission will run a full chainsaw recovery site in Butler County in response to deadly tornadoes that ripped through the state. Texans on Mission is deploying chainsaw, volunteer feeding, shower/laundry, electronics, asset protection, electric, assessors andincident management teams this week. The destruction in both locations is severe.

STCH Ministries received a charitable grant of $20,000 from the Valero Benefit for Children last year thanks to the Valero Texas Open golf tournament and associated events. “We are grateful for the generous support of Valero Benefit for Children. … Homes for Children is a haven of healing, restoration and transformation, and this donation is a lifeline—helping children, from newborns to college students, experience security, love and hope,” said Greg Huskey, vice president of campus ministries at STCH Ministries. Through the grant, STCH Ministries will provide essential food and household supplies for the commissary on the Boothe Campus, ensuring that children in its eight cottages have access to staple items like fresh meat and produce, canned goods and household and cleaning supplies. For many of the children in STCH Ministries’ care, stability and nourishment are new experiences. With consistent access to nutritious meals and daily necessities, they can focus on school, build healthy relationships and develop trust and confidence. These funds will help create an environment where children feel safe, supported and able to thrive. The 2025 Valero Texas Open and Valero Benefit for Children will be held in San Antonio, on April 3-7. Funds raised are distributed to agencies across the United States, supporting the work of hundreds of charities in communities where Valero operates, including STCH Ministries.

Dallas Baptist University announced Ambassador Rashad Hussain has joined the Institute for Global Engagement as a Distinguished Senior Fellow. Hussain brings to IGE a wide range of domestic and international public service experience in diplomacy, law and national security. He recently concluded his tenure as the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, a role in which he led U.S. efforts to work with governments and civil society to monitor and advance global religious freedom. Hussain was confirmed overwhelmingly by the Senate and is respected across the political and faith spectrums for his consistent approach advocating for all faith groups and countering all forms of hate. Prior to this role, he served as director for partnerships and global engagement at the National Security Council and as senior counsel at the Department of Justice’s National Security Division. He has also held key positions in the White House and the State Department, including as U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, U.S. Special Envoy for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications and associate White House counsel. He serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center and the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal, and master’s degrees in public administration and Arabic and Islamic studies from Harvard University. As Distinguished Senior Fellow,Hussain will provide strategic insights and thought leadership on global engagement efforts, contribute to research and policy recommendations, and engage with key stakeholders to advance IGE’s mission.

The Dallas Baptist University Dorothy M. Bush College of Education has received approval from the Texas Education Agency to offer an Alternative Superintendent Certification program. This new certification pathway provides a flexible and accessible option for educators who have already earned a master’s degree and principal certification, enabling them to advance their careers and pursue a superintendent role. The program is specifically designed for working professionals, allowing them to complete their certification in just two semesters, one in the fall and one in the spring. This condensed schedule makes it easier for educators to balance their professional responsibilities with their educational goals. For more information on the Alternative Superintendent Certification program and how to apply, visit the DBU Dorothy M. Bush College of Education website.

The first graduates of Houston Christian University’s Doctor of Ministry program presented their final research projects to fellow students and faculty on March 6. The program’s first graduates—Laurien Hook, Marc James, Hannah McGinnis and Brandon Webb—produced projects that “considered issues related to church growth and leadership, how to recapture the biblical story in our teaching and preaching, and how to minister to those touched by cancer,” explained Jason Maston, associate dean of HCU’s School of Christian Thought. The DMin program, offered through Houston Theological Seminary, currently enrolls 42 students across three cohorts. The program provides a kingdom-focused education that empowers pastors, chaplains and ministry leaders with the advanced knowledge and credentials necessary to engage culture with the gospel. To learn more about HCU’s Doctor of Ministry degree program, visit https://hc.edu/houston-theological-seminary/dmin/.

The American Southwest Conference announced a 10-year agreement that ensures the stability, strength and growth of the conference, which includes four Texas Baptist universities. With the return of McMurry University and Schreiner University, beginning in the 2026-27 academic year, the ASC’s membership is solidified. After a year of evaluation and collaboration to secure the long-term future of the conference, the ASC moves forward with a united membership of six anchor members. The agreement underscores the commitment of all member institutions to providing a faith-based collegiate environment that values a challenging academic and spiritual experience enriched by athletic competition. The ASC members are East Texas Baptist University, Hardin-Simmons University, Howard Payne University, McMurry University, Schreiner University and University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. For more information about the American Southwest Conference, visit https://ascsports.org/.

Stark Seminary will host a training for current and aspiring ministers on its McAllen campus March 27 at 10:30 a.m. Ira Antoine, Texas Baptists director of bivocational ministries, will present “Preparing for Your Next Assignment: Navigating the Path to Ministry Success,” offering practical strategies to maximize ministry impact. Antoine is a pastor, preacher and leader with 37 years of ministry experience. In addition to director of bivocational ministries, he pastors Minnehulla Baptist Church. Passionate about equipping leaders, he specializes in church growth, strategic planning and ministry development.

Doug McIntyre has been appointed as the new dean of Hardin-Simmons University’s Kelley College of Business and Professional Studies, where he holds the Charles and Pauline Brinkley Endowed Chair of Business. He officially will step into this role in June 2025 and will succeed Robert Tucker, who will transition to the director of the Julius Olsen Honors Program. McIntyre, who earned his Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, has been a faculty member at HSU since 2000, initially serving as an adjunct professor while balancing a full-time career in banking and financial services. After 23 years as a banker, McIntyre shifted his focus to full-time education in 2006.

For the fourth time in recent years, a team of Wayland Baptist University students coached by Jason Geesey has emerged as a top-ranked competitor in the Business Strategy Game, an online simulation designed to emulate the competitive landscape of the global athletic footwear industry. Celerity Footwear, a mock business led by WBU students Landon Womack and Jocelynn Barlow, clinched the No. 1 ranking among 4,657 graduate and undergraduate teams from 199 universities worldwide at the conclusion of their seven-week competition. Womack and Barlow are online students who have never met their professor in person. Womack, a senior business administration major from New Deal, and Barlow, a senior applied science in management major from Alaska, competed against thousands of students from major universities, demonstrating mastery of strategic decision-making in areas such as production, marketing, finance and corporate social responsibility. The Business Strategy Game challenges student teams to manage virtual companies that compete in a simulated global market, akin to industry giants like Nike. Performance is assessed based on stock price, return on equity and earnings per share—metrics that reflect a company’s strategic efficiency. Throughout the simulation, Womack and Barlow were tasked with making more than 100 critical business decisions each week, all while overseeing operations in four global regions. Their efforts culminated in a perfect weighted average score of 110—an elite achievement in the competition.

Anniversaries

First Baptist Church in Gustine celebrated 125 years on March 16. Emmanuel Jimenez is pastor.

First Baptist Church in Temple celebrated 150 years on March 16. Joe Loughlin is lead pastor. All four of the church’s prior lead pastors who are still living attended: Jerry Carlisle, David Crosby, Ronny Marriott and Martin Knox.

Kevin Abbott was pastor of First Baptist Church of Red Oak in 2014 when God placed a burden on his heart to partner with local indigenous pastors in South Asia, and he began praying for a partnership.

“We were supporting somebody in China. We were supporting somebody in Honduras,” said Abbott, now an area representative for Texas Baptists and director of Pastoral Health Networks.

“But I felt like God wanted us to have a personal relationship and partnership with somebody on the ground in South Asia, where some of the highest levels of persecution were starting to happen.”

Two years later, Joe Moody—Abbott’s former pastor and founder of Light the Window Ministries—invited him to have coffee. Moody told Abbott he needed to meet a church planter in South Asia whom he called “the Billy Graham of Nepal.”

“He’s the guy that’s well-respected and moving and shaking when it comes to evangelism and church planting and lots of very cutting edge, at least for Indian people in that area, cutting-edge church-planting movement and gospel-movement-type stuff,” Abbott explained.

When the South Asian church planter visited the United States, Abbott met with him. After the meeting, Abbott set up a trip with his church’s leadership team to “see the work on the ground [in South Asia] and go to villages and meet pastors.”

“We came back, and we were all convinced that God wanted us to partner with South Asia and [the church planter] … and the rest is history,” Abbott said.

Aside from a two-year gap during the COVID-19 pandemic, Abbott has traveled to South Asia every year since then—“always trying to pour into their leaders and connect resources to them and their needs,” he said.

Focus on developing pastors as leaders

Before joining the Texas Baptists staff, Abbott developed the Resilient Pastors cohorts at Union Baptist Association. The six-month learning cohort focused on the five habits of leaders who finish well.

Every time the South Asian church planter visited Houston, he participated in a Resilient Pastors cohort and “really loved what we were doing.”

“He said, ‘Man, I would love to bring this to South Asia,’” Abbott recalled. “I said: ‘Well, that’s great. Let’s talk about it,’ [and] that turned into a two-year conversation.”

When he moved to the state convention staff, Texas Baptists had launched its own similar program—Pastor Strong.

That’s when Abbott developed the idea for Pastor Strong South Asia—bringing together elements of what he had learned in Houston with what Texas Baptists developed.

On Jan. 20-25, 11 pastors across South Asia met in Nepal for a week-long training on leadership development, focusing on material from J. Robert Clinton’s The Making of a Leader. The pastors learned “how God develops a leader over a lifetime and how we can use that as a model of developing our leaders.”

Most of the pastors also serve regionally, mentoring between 5 and 15 pastors each. So, they also went through coaching skills training to get “some tools in their bag” for shepherding, Abbott said.

High level of commitment

He was encouraged by the level of commitment from the pastors to learn and be in community together.

“[I] told them up front that this is an alongside formation environment, that we are in a cohort together and really hammered home pretty strong the value of learning and community—that it wouldn’t be me lecturing, but we’re learning together, and they really took off on that,” Abbott said.

“It’s kind of a foreign concept to them, and so for them to really engage in that was pretty powerful to watch.”

Each day centered on a different theme. The first day evaluated how to finish well. Drawing from The Making of a Leader, the pastors considered the six barriers to ministry and the five habits of finishing.

The second day was a session called “Focused Living,” which helps pastors gain clarity about their “unique kingdom calling.” During the session, participants create a sticky-note timeline of their life to “gain sovereign perspective of how God has shaped them” for their purpose.

Spontaneous time of worship and praise

Abbott said at the end of the day, the pastors reflected on their timelines and were encouraged to “mine out of each chapter a couple of blessings from God or lessons.” After concluding the time with prayer, an older pastor among the group “stood up with his hands in the air and just started singing a worship song.”

“He was singing this worship song from his heart language of Nepali,” Abbott said.

His friend the South Asian church planter leaned over and told Abbott: “This is what he’s singing: I will sing your praise with thanksgiving, oh Jesus, my Lord. Your goodness to me is numerous, millions of thanks. You have given me more than my merit with your compassion.

“I have received more than I have asked for. I’m grateful to you, oh Lord. You are the true and living God. I have my trust in you, Lord; give me the gifts so I may serve you in such a way that I may get rewards from you.’”

He said every other pastor soon joined the spontaneous worship session.

“I didn’t know what to think. I was like, ‘Oh, this is powerful,’” Abbott said. “So, those are some of the beautiful things—spontaneous things—that [came] out of this with these leaders.”

Abbott said Texas Baptists pastors could learn a lot about the power of prayer and passion for the gospel from their South Asian counterparts.

“As Americans, we tend to get self-dependent… and it’s so refreshing to go into an environment like India or Nepal or countries like that… [because] these pastors, they don’t do it for the money, they do it for the love of God and the kingdom call of ministry,” Abbott said.

“Their hearts bleed the gospel and the need for people. Their passion about the gospel is real.”

He said the group closed every evening on their hotel’s rooftop patio in a glassed-in room, which they called the “Upper Room” in reference to Acts 1:12-14, sharing what they learned from the day and praying over each other.

Taking the model home

At the end of the week, the pastors were commissioned to “take this model to your leaders in your regions” to train them to utilize the same skills they learned during Pastor Strong.

Abbott said he wants the Pastor Strong South Asia cohort to be an encouragement to Texas Baptists pastors that the work being done in Jesus’ name around the world “[is] not dead.”

“I would encourage our pastors to really lean in and partner with local pastors and … church planter leaders in some of these countries, especially the 10/40 window where the most unreached people groups are, which happens to be mostly Muslim countries and Asian countries,” Abbott said.

Looking to the future of Pastor Strong Cohorts, Abbott said he desires for Pastor Strong Texas cohorts to have a “true partnership” with Pastor Strong South Asia cohorts to connect and provide tools and resources for them.

He said he would eventually like to set up a sponsorship program where Texas pastors can directly adopt a church and pastor financially.

The main priority at this time, he said, is for Texas pastors to “gain awareness of what God is doing [in South Asia].”

“I think it is a great marriage to partner what we’re doing here with pastors in Texas and what we’re doing at the same time with pastors in South Asia now,” Abbott said. “[I] really wanted there to be this type of partnership and support amongst our local pastors with what God’s doing internationally.”

Abbott said this trip “reconfirmed the power of the process” and the design of the cohorts.

“[I learned] that this type of training… works in any culture, in any language, and that leaders struggle with the same things everywhere; it just is flavored a little bit different,” Abbott said.

“I was reaffirmed in Nepal in this training, once again, the power and the need for what we’re trying to do as Pastor Strong Cohorts in Texas: that we want a different type of environment. We want an environment where you come alongside each other, and you learn together… [It was] a confirmation that what we’ve been doing is valuable.”

NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS)—Continued attacks on religious minorities by Islamist militants have prompted calls for Nigeria to be restored to the Country of Particular Concern list of nations that are the worst violators of religious freedom.

In Africa’s most populous nation, a deadly cycle of violence has unfolded for several years, with Christian clergy and laypeople—as well as moderate Muslims—falling victim to murder and kidnapping.

The Christian nonprofit Open Doors recently reported about 3,100 Christians in 2024 were killed and more than 2,000 kidnapped in Nigeria.

On March 12, U.S. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, held a hearing on religious freedom violations in Nigeria.

Calls for targeted economic sanctions

The hearing included testimony from Catholic Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of the Diocese of Makurdi, in central Nigeria, and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a former U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom commissioner.

Anagbe accused the Nigerian government and police of not acting to stop the violence, and he told the subcommittee in addition to killings, kidnapping and rape, Christians are routinely denied public office.

“We live in fear, because at any point it can be our turn to be killed,” the bishop said.

Perkins appealed to the White House during the hearing to reassert Country of Particular Concern status on Nigeria under the International Religious Freedom Act that allows the U.S. president to impose economic penalties.

“The U.S. should apply targeted economic sanctions on Nigerian officials that are complicit in religious persecution,” he said, adding that trade and security agreements should be used to pressure the government.

Perkins also called for the Trump administration to name a new ambassador for international religious freedom.

In Nigeria, John Joseph Hayab, a Baptist minister and chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in 19 Northern States, told RNS, “No one desires that their country is in the list, but putting Nigeria back there should encourage the government to act.”

Hayab said violence in Nigeria is not limited to Christians, and the designation would awaken the government to act for justice and give equal rights to all, so no sect is treated as superior to another.

“All the people who have died should not have if the government had acted. I think it would encourage the government to wake up. I hope it does so before it’s listed,” Hayab said.

The Nigerian government has rebutted the claims of targeted killing of Christians, saying while previous reports by the U.S. Congress had led to Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern, the security challenges were complex and not rooted in religious persecution.

“The ongoing security challenges stem from criminality, terrorism, and communal clashes, particularly conflict between farmers and herders, which have been exacerbated by climate change, population growth and competition over land resources,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Fulani Ethnic Militia largely responsible

Of Nigeria’s nearly 229 million people, Muslims comprise 53.5 percent, while 45.9 percent are Christians.

The violence is largely the work of two groups. The first is the extremist Islamist militant Boko Haram and its splinter factions.

The second is a range of militias or bandits linked to Fulani herders, Muslims who have waged a campaign of land grabs against Christian farmers in the fertile—and more Christian— Middle Belt of central Nigeria as the Fulanis’ grazing land has dried up over the past decades.

In August, the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa reported the little-known Fulani Ethnic Militia was carrying out most of the killings in Nigeria.

The militia, according to the Aug. 29 report, has organized along ethnic and religious lines, carrying out attacks and abductions without resistance from the Nigerian security services.

Although both Christians and Muslims are victims of the violence, Christians have endured most of the violence as attackers burned their homes and farms.

Over the last four years, the militia has killed over 55,000 people and carried out more than 21,000 abductions in the North-Central Zone and Southern Kaduna, the report said.

Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri, in the northeastern corner of the country, backed relisting Nigeria as a country of concern.

“Let it be so that the world can know this is what we are going through. The naked truth is that Nigeria is on the brink of collapse,” he said in a telephone interview.

Calling Christian persecution “our daily experience,” the bishop said: “We have a government that is not functioning very well, and that is why these criminals move about terrorizing innocent citizens, including priests who are supposed to be highly respected. Let the world know. The Western world has been quiet about our experience here.”

Catholic Church leaders say 145 priests have been kidnapped in the last 10 years, 11 of whom were killed; four are still missing.

In the latest incident, a 21-year-old seminarian and a priest were kidnapped March 3 in the Diocese of Auchi, in Edo state. The priest, freed 10 days later, said the seminarian had been killed. Another Catholic priest, from the Diocese of Kafanchan, was found murdered on March 5.

HUNTSVILLE—Ray Cucancic is the master builder guiding the work of Texans on Mission Church Builders in Huntsville this spring. However, the retired contractor does more than build on the work site. He also teaches.

“I love working with people who are eager to learn,” said Cucancic, a member of Northside Baptist Church in Huntsville.

The eager learners in Huntsville recently were from First Baptist Church in Hempstead. Each year, the Hempstead congregation involves a group of high school and college students—both young men and women—in a spring break project with Texans on Mission Builders.

“These spring break projects have not only increased the students’ knowledge of construction but also fostered a greater appreciation for the wisdom and experiences of the older generation,” said Rooster Smith, leader of the Hempstead group.

“They have helped our youth grow more comfortable in sharing their faith, both how they came to know the Lord and how he continues to work in their lives.”

Wayne Pritchard, coordinator of Texans on Mission Builders, said having the group from Hempstead join them was “extremely encouraging” to the veteran Builders.

“It gives us a sense of purpose as we get the opportunity to share our knowledge with the next generation of Christian men and women to serve our God,” Pritchard said.

Providing additional space for Covenant Fellowship

This year’s spring Church Builders project is converting a covered patio into enclosed space for Bible study and other ministries at Covenant Fellowship in Huntsville.

“We are out of classroom space,” said David Valentine, senior pastor at Covenant. “The original bid to do this project was about a quarter of a million dollars, and we’re cutting that expense by about 60 percent because of the volunteers with Texans on Mission, and we’re very appreciative of them.”

Covenant Fellowship emphasizes community ministries, some of which received initial funding from Texas Baptists about 15 years ago.

As the congregation has engaged with the community, worship attendance has grown from about 120 to almost 400, Valentine said.

The new space will be used throughout the week for ministries such as Celebrate Recovery for those dealing with addictions, and other Bible studies and activities.

“Our facilities are being used seven days a week, and we’re just out of space, and so we praise the Lord for what he’s doing,” Valentine said.

Texans on Mission Builders framed the exterior walls and internal rooms to prepare for sheetrock installation, said Wayne Pritchard, coordinator of Texans on Mission Builders.

The Hempstead group worked the first week of the two-week project to coincide with local school spring break. The team included Royal Ambassadors and Challengers from the Hempstead church.

Beyond working together with the experienced Builders, “we challenged our youth to share their testimonies with the Builders, who, in turn, shared their own faith journeys with the students,” Smith said.

“It was incredible to hear how God had worked in their [the Builders’] lives and to witness those experiences being passed on to the next generation. This exchange of testimonies was the first step in forming relationships that deepened throughout the week.”

Each evening, the students “eagerly shared what they had learned from the more experienced Builders,” Smith said.

BROWNSVILLE (RNS)—Back in December, a group of migrants, released just hours before from detention centers or Customs and Border Protection processing, sat beside a large photo of Nazareth in the sanctuary of Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville, ready to participate in Wednesday night worship.

After a dinner of spaghetti, pizza and Coca-Cola prepared by women from this Southern Baptist church, Pastor Carlos Navarro hoped they could turn their attention to Jesus.

The group of 15 migrants joined about 40 regular congregants for a Bible study and worship service in a sanctuary decked out with Christmas decorations, images of Israel and declarations in Spanish that “Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Church.”

In a sermon on Psalm 140, a prayer for protection from the evildoers, Navarro told the newly arrived migrants and his congregants to rely on God for protection against evil people surrounding them, whether bosses or family members.

“When God wants to protect me because he knows that there is something that could happen, he takes away that person that I am sure had something planned against me. Deliver us Lord from all evil,” he preached in Spanish before encouraging the migrants to accept Jesus in a silent prayer.

Viewing new arrivals as opportunity for evangelism

Where the “government sees a threat, a problem, society sees a danger with people that they don’t know, we see an opportunity to share the gospel,” Navarro, a 64-year-old Guatemalan immigrant who came to the United States in 1982 and a decade later became pastor of the West Brownsville church, told RNS in English in December.

In 2017, Navarro began Ministerio Golán, a ministry of Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville named after the biblical Golan Heights—a nod to the congregation’s devotion to Israel.

Since then, the church has worked with government authorities, who would tell Navarro when they were releasing migrants from their custody. The church would briefly host them for food, supplies and evangelization before dropping them off to sleep at the airport, on their way to their final destinations in the United States.

But now, President Donald Trump has shut down the Biden-era app that allowed migrants to make appointments to seek asylum and curtailed other asylum opportunities.

So, the Baptist church is only serving the slow trickle of unaccompanied minors released from the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services after their 18th birthday, as well as six migrant families who have chosen to stay in Brownsville, hearing there won’t be work in other U.S. cities.

“The word ‘migrants’ will be forgotten soon,” said Navarro in a March 5 phone call with RNS, describing the recent shuttering of migrant services along the border.

Served newly arrived migrants

Volunteers from the Spanish-speaking church, which has about 300 congregants attending Sunday services, historically served dinner to migrants all throughout the week. They also have a street evangelization ministry and ministries to people experiencing homelessness and those in nursing homes.

Behind the church, with offices and worship space for the congregation of first- and second-generation Latinos, sits a one-story building with space to house up to 18 migrants who experience problems in reaching their final destination.

On that December night, Lindsey, a Guatemalan migrant just released who said she was going to meet an aunt she had not seen since she was 2 years old, told RNS that without Ministerio Golán, she would have spent the night at the airport crying by herself. RNS is using only migrants’ first names to protect their safety should they return to their countries of origin.

Instead, she stood beside Carla, a fellow Guatemalan migrant, as both agreed their time at Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville had been “a blessing,” reinforcing that “God is good.”

Venezuelan migrants recall harrowing journey

The migrants at West Brownsville told RNS they were fleeing political instability, police corruption, economic turmoil and domestic violence. One woman said she was fleeing a partner who had imprisoned her and beaten her, even while pregnant.

“The safety, it changes everything,” said Oswal, a Venezuelan migrant among the small group of migrants staying in longer-term housing on Iglesia Bautista West Brownsville’s campus.

Like other migrants in Ministerio Golán, Oswal said he was determined to do things the legal way—by using the CBP One app—and he hoped to find work quickly. He said he decided to leave Venezuela after his small business was repeatedly extorted by police, but his journey to the United States had presented new dangers.

Oswal, as well as Daniela and Verónica, two other Venezuelans who had stayed in Casa Golán’s housing, recounted their harrowing trips through the Darien Gap, a jungle route between Colombia to Panama. They described being on high alert for criminal groups who assault and rob migrants.

Daniela said her journey to the United States took more than a year due to sickness and lack of funds. Verónica recalled almost drowning during a river crossing, and the other two said they had seen or heard of other migrants who had.

For Verónica, it was her first time becoming close to a church. “It’s different to what I thought,” Verónica, whom Navarro enlisted as his assistant while her husband began working after their arrival last spring, told RNS. “I always thought other ugly things about the church, about people from the church, because of what you see in the news.”

Saying she jumps in to help wherever needed, Verónica cooked dinner for Casa Golán while speaking with RNS and then became a photographer when the group of new migrants arrived hours later. Oswal and Daniela also said they looked for any opportunity to give back to the church that had supported them.

Tracking the stats under the title “Hosting Angels” on their Facebook page, Navarro said in March the church, since 2019, assisted more than 91,000 migrants materially and seen more than 26,000 pray to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Another 3,461 migrants have stayed overnight in the church’s respite center, and the ministry has given out more than 25,000 Bibles.

No government funds involved

Like other migrant ministries, Navarro has faced accusations that he’s “promoting illegal immigration,” despite his close partnership with the government. And on several occasions, Navarro said people have taken photos of his license plate, which he interpreted as “a threat.”

Ministerio Golán’s small-scale ministry, which operates without government funding, differs from many other religious shelters at the border that received substantial federal government funding during the Biden administration.

In line with a Southern Baptist perspective on separation of church and government, Navarro said the ministry has relied on donations, either money for its $7,500 monthly budget or material support, from church groups and local restaurants.

“When you take all the politics out of it, and you just focus on the call, “it is an opportunity for the church to grow,” said Elket Rodríguez, who supports Ministerio Golán through Fellowship Southwest, an ecumenical Christian network in Texas, Oklahoma and Arizona founded by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

“It is an opportunity for the love of God to be spread,” explaining that following the biblical call to serve your neighbor means accepting “we do not get to choose who is the person we’re going to help.”

“I’ve been called to do a ministry that transcends earthly governments,” Rodríguez said.

Not interested in ‘political correctness’

Navarro, who identifies as a theological conservative, and his church are determined to cling to their beliefs no matter how unpopular. From his desk, with large U.S. and Israeli flags behind him, Narravo told RNS of his support for migrants and Israel.

“I’m just trying to stay away from what political correctness is,” he explained. “ I’m doing what I’m doing because of my convictions.”

At the December Bible study and worship service, Navarro told the group of migrants they were the most important people in the room, besides Jesus, of course.

After the opening worship songs and Scripture reading, the church formally welcomed the migrants to the United States.

At dinner, Navarro had asked all of the migrants where they were from so he and his team were prepared to feature flags, slides and regional music for each group during the service.

That night, Navarro told his church, “Every day until Christ comes, we will have dinners.”

Since the Trump administration’s blockage of asylum cases, those dinners have shrunk, though.

For the migrants who planned to come to the United States now stuck in Mexico or journeying farther south, Navarro hopes churches in those areas will not see those migrants as “a burden” or “a threat.”

“This is a good moment for churches in Mexico to step up and do something,” he said.